Offshore production of oil and natural gas may be performed using a variety of methods. One such method involves using an offshore energy platform, which is a platform supported by or moored to the floor of a body of water. The offshore energy platform extracts hydrocarbons from underground formations. The platform houses workers and machinery needed to drill and/or produce oil and natural gas from beneath the seafloor. These platforms may each have a number of wellheads, allowing access to reservoirs of energy resources located at great distances from the platform. A typical offshore energy platform is self-sufficient. For example, an offshore energy platform may be an offshore platform that houses all of the equipment necessary to process energy resources such that these natural resources can be delivered to markets via pipelines or tanker vessels.
For safety and efficiency reasons, many offshore energy platforms are unmanned, performing most functions completely autonomously. An unmanned offshore energy platform is a platform that typically functions without human workers, while a manned offshore energy platform is platform that typically functions with human workers. To ensure the proper regular operation of unmanned offshore energy platforms, numerous unmanned offshore energy platforms are often located in the vicinity of a manned offshore energy platform. Thus, workers are located at a manned offshore energy platform, which may be in the vicinity of one or more unmanned offshore energy platforms. Visits to the unmanned offshore energy platforms are occasionally necessary. This arrangement of unmanned offshore energy platforms in the vicinity of a manned offshore energy platform allows workers at the manned offshore energy platform to visit an unmanned offshore energy platform when necessary.
Operators of such platforms incur great costs. For example, costs may arise because governments and other organizations require an offshore energy platform operator to monitor the platform for pollution. Normally, an unmanned offshore energy platform is physically surveyed by visiting the platform by helicopter or boat. The frequency of these visits is determined by the production level of the well(s) at the platform. It is not uncommon for an operator of an unmanned offshore energy platform to visit the platform daily. Additional costs arise because operators check for proper operation and compliance with governmental regulations, and ensure that the platforms have not been tampered with or damaged.